TOPIC: Fantasy Buccaneers: Defense and Special Teams

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense looks very different this year than it did in 2017. The addition of many players Peyton Barber Jersey , young and old, and the arrival of new defensive line coach Brentson Buckner has built a lot of excitement around what the unit might be able to do in 2018.So, how does Tampa Bay’s DST look in fantasy football projections?Let’s dive in to the stats, projections and Pro Football Focus rankings to find out.*Statistics provided by Pro Football FocusTampa Bay Buccaneers Defense and Special Teams (DST26 in 2017)2017 Fantasy Football Statistics:- 23 sacks- 13 fumbles recovered- 13 interceptions- 382 points allowed- 3 defensive touchdowns- 0 special teams touchdowns- 109 points (6.8 points per game)As defenses go, there weren’t much worse than the Buccaneers’ own squad. However, a influx of talent and new coaching up front figures to see improvement on the front line.Typically, front line improvement leads to improvements throughout the defense. How does PFF see this change impacting the group as a whole?2018 Fantasy Football Projections:- 33 sacks- 11 fumbles recovered- 13 interceptions- 3 defensive touchdowns- 0 special teams touchdowns- 101.1 points (DST17)Overall, the site sees the Buccaneers defense getting to the quarterback more while forced turnovers actually goes down, as does the overall fantasy scoring of the defense and special teams group.However, against the other projections across the league, the Tampa Bay rankings goes up significantly jumping from 26th in 2017 to being the seventeenth ranked group entering 2018.Of course, this is relative as is everything, and the top ranked defensive projection lands in Jacksonville with the group that finished first in 2017. The actual scoring last season versus the Jaguars’ expected score this year is a 100-point difference.Still Cheap Justin Evans Jersey , seventeenth is encouraging as it shows people outside of the organization and not closely tied to it are seeing big improvements in Tampa Bay’s defense.2018 Fantasy Football Outlook: Tampa Bay Buccaneers DSTBest Match-Up: Week 7 vs Cleveland BrownsWorst Match-Up: Week 1 @ New Orleans SaintsWhere to Draft: Free-Agent to WatchFantasy Playoff Potential: There’s not a whole lot of in-season value with this group just yet, but that could change. Keeping an eye on this defense is something worth doing as they could be the surprise of the NFL in 2018. A playoff stretch against the New Orleans Saints, Baltimore Ravens and Dallas Cowboys could be friendlier than most expect entering the season. Aaron Doster-USA TODAY SportsThis group is an enigma and will continue to be a mystery until we see them unveiled in the regular season.As a streaming option, target Week 7 as the week to possible insert them into your lineup as the Bucs face the Browns at home. Simply put, the Browns are the Browns until they’re not anymore.If the Ravens can’t rebound to become serious playoff contenders again and the Dallas Cowboys find out Dez Bryant was more valuable than they thought, then Tampa Bay’s fantasy football playoff relevance may come back this year.Bottom line, I still wouldn’t recommend spending a draft pick here, but putting them on your watch list as a streaming play or late-season pick-up may not be the worst strategy.Quick Observations From Training Camp: 8/16/18 Another day of joint practice, another step closer to the beginning of the regular season. Despite the occasional rain, today was a cloudy, overcast day for the most part. The play on the field between the Titans and Bucs however, was not. Let’s dive into today’s practice.1) Jameis Winston was up and downAfter a very solid outing on Wednesday, Winston wasn’t nearly as sharp in practice today. There were multiple times where he had a good Buccaneers Caleb Benenoch Jersey , clean pocket to throw from and he couldn’t make the right throw in order to make a play. A couple of throws were nearly picked off and the common denominator in both instances was Winston himself.He completely overthrew rookie receiver Justin Watson on one play.But he didn’t have a terrible day. During the team’s two-minute drill, Winston made several good throws to drive Tampa Bay into field goal range pretty quickly and Chandler Catanzaronailed the 37-yard attempt. That was against the Titans’ twos, however, so take that final drive with a grain of salt. 2) Practice was even more intense than yesterdayThis is to be expected, but it was still interesting to watch. Both teams were pushing each other around quite a bit today and tempers started to flare later in practice. A huge hit by safety Chris Conte on Titans’ running back Dion Lewis was the catalyst for back-to-back scuffles between both teams. Coaching staffs on both sides had to get in the middle of everyone in order to break things up. During the Bucs’ two-minute drill, a somewhat-scary moment occurred when a Titans’ player - it looked to be on purpose, but that is just speculation - fell and landed on Winston while he was on the ground, almost prompting yet another scuffle. These teams are going to go after each other Saturday night and boy, it will be fun to watch. 3) The offensive line looked betterAfter an average day, the Bucs’ offensive line routinely offered the quarterbacks clean pockets to operate within. They still had their struggles opening holes for the running game, but their pass protection seems to be on point. With backup right tackle Leonard Wester still nursing a bad ankle, Brad Seaton has seen his fair share of playing time with the backups. I thought he played well against Miami and also today. There are still questions at right guard, but the depth at tackle doesn’t seem as big of an issue as it was initially. Of course Buccaneers Ryan Jensen Jersey , it’s still preseason though. 4) A lack of explosive plays, but the offense was still efficientThroughout camp, we’ve seen a good portion of deep throws from both Ryan Fitzpatrick and Winston, but the past two days were a different story. Sure, the Bucs attempted to go deep during 11-on-11s, but there wasn’t much success to be had against a very talented Titans secondary. The closest they got was a near-completion from Fitzpatrick to Evans that missed by literally a couple of inches. A completed pass would’ve netted about a 30-yard gain. Despite the lack of big plays, Tampa Bay still moved the ball efficiently and were able to routinely find holes in the Titans’ defense. But the Bucs will need these plays come the regular season and they will need a lot of them. It’ll be interesting to see what they do Saturday night. 5) Ronald Jones II will not be the starter come week oneJones II just hasn’t been what the Bucs want so far in camp. He’s had issues with both pass protection and fumbles - the latter occurring twice today. He also struggled in the first preseason game against Miami, but a lot of that can be attributed to the ever-shuffling offensive line. But at the same time, you expect a high second-round pick to be able to make plays and while Jones II has done that here and there - it definitely hasn’t been as frequent as needed. Peyton Barber on the other hand, has looked great and will be the starter come week one as long as nothing crazy happens.